Key-base for side walls and ceilings.



R. D. WEAKLEY. KEY BASE FoR lSIDE wALLs AND cEILlNGs.l

APPLICATION FILED MAYH. 1912.

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ma W 1, H WFF WX R. D. WEAKLEY.`

KEY BASE FOR SIDE WALLS AND CEILINGS.

APPLICATION HLED MAY11,1912.

1,172,085. v w JPaten'ued Feb. 916.

TE. E1 5 R. D. WEAKLEY.

KEY BASE FOR SIDE WALLS AND CEILINGS.

APPLICATION HLED MAY11,1912.

1,172,085. Ptented Feb.15,1916.`

6 SHEETS-SHEET 3.

R. D. WEAKLEY. KEY BAsEroR SIDE wALLs AND cEluNGs.

APPLICATION FILED MAY H, 1912. 1,172,085. Panted Fe1.15,1916.

6 SHEETS-SHEET 4.

R. D. WEAKLEY.

KEY BASE'FOR SIDE wALLs AND cElLlNGs.

' Pamed Feb.15,1916.

R. D. WEAKLEY. KEY BASE FOR SIDE WALLS AND CEILINGS.

APPLICATION FILED MAYII,1912- v 1,1'72085. Patented Feb. 15,' 1916.

6 SHEETS-SHEET 6.

Tlg. 15 Tlg. 17 TE. 1B

UNITED sTATEs PATENT OFFICE.

RAYMOND D. WEAKLEY, ST. LOUIS, MISSOURI, ASSIGN OR, BY DIRECT AND MESNEASSIGNMENTS, TO PLASTIC PRODUCTS CDMPANY, OF ST. LOUIS, MISSOURI, A COR-PORATION OF MISSOURI.

' .KEY-BASE FOR SIDE WALLS AND CEILINGS.

specification of Letters Patent.

Application filed 'May 11, 1912. Serial No. 696,742.

To aZZ whom it may concern:

Be it known thatI, RAYMOND D. Wenn- LEY, a citizen of the United States,residing at St. Louis, in the State of-Missourl, haye invented new anduseful Improvements 1n Key-Bases for Side VValls' and Cellings, of whichthe following is a specification.

This invention relates to side wall and ceiling structures for' buildingand other purposes, and particularly to means in the form of a key basefor replacing the usual wood lath and plaster, metal laths or coveringsand other expensive wall organizatlons now commonly used. Owing to theeXpensiveness of lime, lime plasters have been largely replaced byPortland and other analogous cements at a materially less cost, but inview of the fact that these cements cannot be. practically applied towood laths in view of the porous condition of the latter and theirtendency to readily' absorb water, together with the quick hardeningcharacteristic of Portland cement plaster, buckling of the Wood lath anda destruction of the cement by reason of the lath pushing through thesaid cement will result. In the use of metal laths of various types theexpense is considerable, and a great waste of the ordinary plaster whenapplied to either wood or metal lath coverings or sheathings ensues byreason of the plaster being pressedbetween the Wood laths or through theopenings of the metal laths.

The present invention embodies features of improvement on the key basedisclosed by my pending application Serial No. 654,061, filed October11, 1911.

The object of this inventionis not only to provide an economicalcovering or key base for side walls and ceilings of buildings to whichcement plasters or reinforced concrete constructions may be directlyapplied and positively and firmly held, but also to give the coveringembodying the improved key base and cement plaster or reinforcedconcrete a greater strength by settlng up a compression and tensiontransversely of the key base in addition to the resisting tensionestablished in a longitudinal direction relatively to the key base sothat the plaster covering is firmly held with equal resistance againstbreakage or fracture in all directions over the key base surface.

With this object in viep7 the 'invention in width wherein lthecorrugations form reinforcing, means in one direction combined withcounter-reinforcing means at a positive angle to the corrugations andrunning in one direction in conjunction with auxiliary reinforcing meansat an angle to said' counter-reinforcing means and extending over thecorrugations, the corrugations and the reinforcing means as a wholeproviding a key base for receiving and positively retaining cementplaster thereon.

The invention still further consists in the details of construction andarrangement of the several parts which will be more fully herenafterdescribed and' claimed in preferred form.

In the drawings: Figure 1 is a sectional side elevation of a portion ofa wall embodying the improved covering or key base and shown broken awayin part. Fig. 2 is a horizontal section taken in the plane of the line2+2, Fig. 1. Fig. 3 is an enlarged detail elevation of a portion of thewall and improved covering or key base. Fig. 4 is a horizontal sectionof the structure as shown by Fig. 3. Fig. 5 is a detail elevation of aportion of the wall support and covering showing a slight modificationin the construction and arrangement of the parts. Fig. 6 is a horizontalsection of the structure shown by Fig. 5. Fig. 7 is a sectionalelevation of a portion of a support and the improved covering or keybase embodying a further modification. Fig. 8 is a horizontal sectionthrough the structure shown by Fig. 7. Fig. 9 is a detail elevation onan enlarged scale showing the joint at the juncture of the intersectingkey devices or means. Fig. 10 is a side elevation of a portion of a wallstructure with the improved covering or key base applied thereto andembodying a still further modification and showing the transverse keywires disposed under the longitudinal key wires.

PatentedFeb.15,1916.

Fig. 11 is a detail elevation of a portion of the structure shown' byFig. 10 and showing the transverse key wires over the longitudinal keywires. F ig. 12 is a view similar to F ig. 10 showing a still furthermodification in the transverse key wires. F ig. 13 is a detail elevationof the structure shown by Fig. 12 illustrating a change in applicationof the transverse key wires. Fig. 14 is a horizontal section of aportion of the structure shown by Fig. 12. Fig. 15 is a detail view of aportion of one of the transverse key wires. Fig. 16 is a detailelevation showing the sheathing embodying longitudinal key wires and awoven wire fabric of open mesh arranged exteriorly of the longitudinalkey wires. Fig. 17 is a view similar to Fig. 16 and embodying the;-

Same structure with the woven wire fabric under the longitudinal keywires. Fig. 18 is a detail elevation of a portion of the sheathingshowing the use of the woven -wire fabric without'the longitudinal keywires or strands. Figs. 19, 20 and 21 are detailhorizontal Sectionsrespectively of the structures shown by F igs. 16, 17 and 18. Fig. 22 isa transverse Vertical. section of a portion of the wall and sheathingwith the cement plaster or coating thereon and. particularlyillustrating the corrugations slightly undercut, and which constructionwill be'practical-ly that embodied in i all of the forms. F ig. 23 showsa detail transverse Vertical section of the improved key base or lathwithout the wires and havin the surface thereof covered with hot asphaltor other vadhesive material and roughened.

with Sand sprinkled thereover.

The numeral 5 designates a corrugated Sheet which is preferably formedof paper or paper composition and comprises' a backing 6 as apartthereof, as clearly shown by Fig. 8. The corrugated Sheet 5 ismaterially strengthened by having the backing or backmg sheet 6 glued orotherwisesecured thereto, and, further, the backing sheet forms airspaces with the corrugated Sheet and when plastered a wall is producedwhich is more proof to sound., heat, cold and dampness. The corrugatedpaper as a whole is of that Character well known in the market oralreadyprepared and used for packing purposes and in making boXes orv o therreceptacles, and is freely fiexible so that it may be easily rolled andunrolled without afliectv ing its form or misshaping the corrugations.

Instead of the corrugated paper as just explained., tar paper may beused and suitably corrugated by running they same through or betweenfiuted. rollers' Both kinds of paper are comparatively inexpenisive, butthat first described embodying the backing 6 will be more largely usedin carrying out the invention and may be rendered water-proof byapplying thereto or saturating the same with. any suitable waterproofmaterial or compound, such for instance as paraflin, and in someinstancesa preservative or protective composition may be applied to thispaper if desired, orthe paper may be otherwise treated to render itfire-proof and. more serviceable and effective in performing its desiredfunction in accordance with the features of this invention, asfor'instance by covering the paper with hot asphalt and -then sprinklingfine sand over the hot aspha-lt so that when dry a hard sand papersurface will be produced, and the sand will keep the paper from stickingwhen rolled up, and when paper is put up will form a better bond forcement or other plasters. This particular coating of the paper ,isshown-by Big. 23, the asphalt being i indicated by 5a and the Sand by5b. lVhile this particular coating of the paper is unnecessary in allinstances, it will be preferred and will be utilized in all the forms ofthe key base, wall covering or lathing which will be hereinafterexplained. After the paper has been preliminarily treated or renderedwater-proof, if the water-proofing preparation is found necessary, aplurality of wires 7 is appiled thereover by any suitable means andsecured, these wires 7, as shown in the drawings, extending across thecorrugations in planes at right angles to the latter and placed atregular or predetermined intervals, the Said wires bridging the valleysbetweenzthe convex portions of the g vcorrugations. These wires arepreferably formed of steel and have a suitable gage,

vand as one Simple means of securing the same to the corrugated paper anumber of staples 8 are applied thereover and'upset against the Sheet 6,for instance, or the rear portions of the corrugations.

As shown by Figs. 1 to 14, both inclusive, an auxiliary wire 9 isregularly associated with the wires 7 by being threaded or passed by anysuitable means either over or under the said wires 7, the said wire 9being first inserted in one direction and then returned and preferab'lycontinuous, as shown by Figs. '1 to 11, and'consisting of single strands9a, as shown by Figs. 12 to 14, the opposite terminale of the wire 9being in the form of loops 10 which may be disposed inside or at adistance inwardly from the one edge 11 of each corrugated sheet orprojected beyond the opposite edgel of the sheet, as shown by Figs. 1and 3, or as shown by Fig. 5, the

loops 10 may both terminate at a distance inwardly from the Sheet edges,or as indicated by Fig. 7 the loops 10 may project be governed entirelyby the particular use and application of the key base as a whole and inaccordance with the desire of the user as to the manner of securing theside edges of the corrugated sheets andthe said terminal loops 10 andeyes 10a. The wires 9 are secured in part at least to the/ wires 7 andthe corrugated Sheet by the upset staples 8, as shown. particularly byFigs. 1 and 3, and it is preferred that the said wires 9 and 9a be alsodisposed at an angle to the p corrugations of the Sheet 5 'and to thewires 7, the best results being derived from a ,diagonal arrangement ofthe wires 9 and 9a as shown. At points throughout the width of eachcorrugated sheet 5 or Where the wall studding 13 is engaged thereby, thestaples or other analogous fastening means are applied over the wires 7and 9 and 9a at a distance from the intersecting points of the latter asat 111, as shown enlarged by Fig. 9,

to form openings 'for enlarged headed fastenings 15 so that when thesaid fastenings are driven into the studding 13 the heads thereof Willfirmly bear on the intersectingv portions of the wires 7 and 9 and 9aand the heads of the adj acent staples 8 and serve as an additionalsecuring or binding means for the wires as Well as a convenient meansfor setting the fastenings or in guiding the op- .erator in applyingsthekey base to the Wall studding or the ceiling rafters, as the case maybe. When the :covering or key base in corrugated form having the wires7, 9 and 9a applied thereto as just explained has been completed, it isready for use.

The improved invention embodying the covering or key base is notlimitedin itsl in the market in rolvls ready for' application,

and in view of the preferred width as just specified it will cover fourstuds or rafters or extend from the Centers of the outer studs ofrafters of each setof four rafters or studs, the latter being usuallysixteen inches apart on center. ,The single diagonally arrangedwirejstrands 9, as 'shown by Figs. 12, 13 and 14, may be applied overthe longitudinal wires or strands 7, as shown particularly by Fig. 14,or under the said strands 7, asmay be desired. In other words, the crossstrands 9a may be underior over the wires or strands 7 and the samearrangements may be adopted in the threadedl strands 9, as-illustratedby Figs. 1 to 11, both inclusive. In the form of the threadeol strandsshown by Figs. 10 and 11, the end loops 10 have a greater extent or arepractically square in their contour and Will be engaged by thefastenings as shown by Fig. 10. 'The corrugated sheets 5 bearing thewires or 'strands which produce with the.

corrugations the key base or the concrete plaster, may be overlapped attheir edges a predetermined distance, as 'shown by Figs.

1 to 6, both inclusive, or arranged edge to edge, as illustrated byFigs. 7 and 8, and in the latte'r arrangement the loops 10 projectbeyond the side edges of the corrugated sheets, and the said loops ofone sheet are covered by the side edge of the adjacent Sheet. ThisVariation in the arrangement of the sheet edges may be modified at Willto accommodate different applications and uses of the key base orimproved wall covering. The corrugations of the sheet 5 in practice Willbe undercut as at 18 so as to provide a firmer and more reliable supportfor the plaster coating, especially on side Walls.

As shown by Figs. 16 and 17, a Wire mesh.

fabric 19 is associated With the wires 7 and held intact With thecorrugated sheet' 5, this Wire mesh fabric being What is known' in themarket as chicken Wire, and in the arrangement illustrated by Figs. 16and 19 the said Wire mesh fabric is secured over the wires 7, and in theconstruction shown by Figs. 17 and 20 the wires 7 are secured over theWire mesh fabric 19. In Fig. 18 the Wire mesh fabric 19 is shown appliedand secured to the corrugated sheet 5 Without the wires 7 and therebyillustrating that in sonie instances it may only be necessary to use thechicken Wire or'Wire mesh fabric to accomplish the object sought. It ispreferred, however, that the wires or Wire strands 7 se cured' to thecorrugated Sheet 5 be used, as a Stronger key base or Wall eovering isthereby produced.

From the -foregoing it Will be seen that thev corrugated sheet which is'preferably formed of paper may have either diagonal threaded wiresassociated with the wires -7 or single diagonal` strand 'wires extendinacross the same and .inter'secting the said z wires 7,'or Chicken Wireor Wire mesh fabric may be used With or Without the wires 7, and alatticedor other` suitable metallic lathing organization ,may be securedto the corrugated sheet; From this Variation in arrangement of 'theparts of the improved Wall covering it Willfbe understood that theinvention contemplates the use of a corrugated sheet having members orstrands secured against the corrugations and disposed at angles toeach'other and adapted to be set up or applied to a Wall 'structurezatone op.-

'eration'and Without requiring thel members or strand wires to bestretched or otherwise arranged in view of the fact that the articlewill be complete and ready-for use when placed upon the market.

It' is also to be understood that the invention is not considered to belimited in the least to any one of the particular forms shown, but iscomprehensive enough to include all of said forms.

In exterior workit is unnecessary for the builder to sheathe a buildingwith lumber before applying the improved Wall covering hereinbeforedescribed, in view of the fact that the covering or key base after ithas been plastered with cement mortar is just as strong as and takes theplace of Wood sheathing.

In applying the covering or key base to studs or rafters the one end ofeach sheet is secured to the floor plate or the ceiling beam or plate,as the case may be, and gradually unrolled and attached by drivingfastenimgs through the edges, as at 16. The edges of the sheets 5 areoverlapped as shown by Figs. 1, 3 and 5, and the terminal loops 10 ofthe wires 9 inwardly at a distance from the one edge of each sheet maybe' overlapped' by the similarly' arranged loops 10 of the adjacentSheet, as shown by Fig. 1, and the fastenings 16 then inserted throughthe overlapped terminal loops, it being understood that the terminalloops 10 at one sideedge of the sheet extend beyond said Sheet edgeso asto project over the adj acent sheet edge andV overlap the loops at adis- 'tance inwardly from'the latter Sheet edge. Where the terminalloops 10 terminate in- Wardly from the side edges of the sheets, asshown by Fig. 5, there are two lines of fastenings 16 engaging each studand said fastenings are slightly inclined so as to set up a drawingaction on the Wire loops 10, as shown by Fig. 6. At points where thestuds or rafters are provided with connecting bridge strips orreinforces, other similar 'fastenings will be lapplied to the wires ordriven over the latter and through the corrngated paper into the saidstrips or reinforces. This same operation may be pursued with theremaining forms of the covering or key base, and the edges of the sheetsmay be associated as desired. By fastening the corrugated sheets andwires to the i studs orv rafters as explained, a very strong applicationor securement will result, with material advantages in maintaining thecovering or key base in position on the wall and in resisting the weightstrain of the cement' plaster applied thereto. It will be seen thatowing to the width of the corrugated covering or key base, a large areamay be quickly sheathed therewith, and as the cost of the improvedcovering or key base is materially less than the cheapest plasterholding means Anow used for a similar Purpose, the expense ofconstruction of certain classes of Vresidences or buildings will becorrespondingly reduced without in the least impairing the necessarystrong support for the plaster covering of walls and ceilings. As .theimproved covering or key base is impcrforate, thev cement plaster willnot be wasted by pushing through the same and falling within the wall orbetween the opposite coverings of the wall as in'the case where a lathkey base or a perforated metal key base is employed.

As shown particularly by Fig. 8, the cement plaster covering or coating21 is applied over the sheathing or key base after the latter is securedto the studs or rafters of a wall or ceiling and is pressed into thevalleys of the corrugations and under, over and between the wires 8 and.9 and the corrugations. The cement plaster fully encloses all'the partsof the imp'roved covering or key base and will be firmly and reliablyheld in all directions by reason of the formation of the corrugationsand the relative positions of the wires or intersecting members, andthough the paper should break in the course of time, the plastercovering will still-be firmly sustained in place by the wires ormembers, and a tension is not only set up longitudinally of the coveringon the cement plaster covering orl coating by the wires 7, but at thesame time the intersecting wires give the said covering or coating atension which will resist any tendency to fracture or breakage of thecovering or coating transverselyl of the key base or of the Wall. Thecorrugations, as hereinbefore noted, are undercut Or lean to one side.or in one direction, and it is therefore better to have the covering orkey base applied to a side wall with the corrugations pointing upwardlyinstead of downwardly` so as to form a Stronger and more positivesupporting means for the cement plaster covering or coating. The cementplaster'o'r covering is applied over the key base or sheathing in thesame manner as ordinary lime plaster and is generally about a quarter ofan inch thick, and within four or five hours this plaster -becomesthoroughly set and presents a strong, solid, stony surfaceto receive thesecond. and third coats of plaster. It will be observed that the wires 7all run parallel to the studding oriceiling rafters, and those wireswhich are 'secu-rely fastened to the `studding or raftersl create a bondbetween pleted will be practically indestructible, and if the plasterbecomes broken by more than ordinary. stress imposed thereon the steelwires or intersecting members will hold the plaster together and thebreak can be easily replastered.

By means of the structure herein specified a fire-proof plaster coveringis produced at a comparatively small expense and of a very durablenature.

One of the most essential advantages of the structure is that all thewires or key members are simultaneously 'applied with the corrugatedpaper to the studding or rafters; or in other words, the sheathing orkey base is complete in itself and does not `require severalmanipulations of separate parts to practically apply the same at thetime that the key base is secured to the studding or rafters.

Vhat is claimed is:

1. A covering or key base for walls and ceilings, consisting of afiexible corrugated sheet of paper material having wires secured thereonand extending diagonally across the same throughout the length and widththereof and in regular interstitial relation, and longitudinal wiresalso extending over the corrugations of the sheet and both wiresstanding clear of the depressions between the corrugations and formingdiversified angular key' means relatively to the sheet, both thediagonally arranged and longitudinal wires being located on one sideonly of the corrugated sheet of paper and the longitudinal wires securedto the latter at intervals thronghout the length of said wires, thefastenings for the longitndinal wires also .securing the diagonal wiresat the points of intersection of the latter with the longitudinal wires.

2. A covering or key base for walls and oeilings,y` consisting of aflexible sheet of corrugated paper 'material having corrugationsextending fully and continuously thereover in a transverse direction,wire members extending in diagonal planes transversely thereof andangularly crossing the corrngations, longitudinal wire membersintersecting the diagonal Wire members and disposed in planes at rightangles to the corrugations of the sheet, the diagonal and longitudinalWire members all being on one side only of the flexible sheet, andfastening devices secured over the points of intersecsisting of a flatbacklng sheet on which is -cei-lings, consisting of a flexible piece ofpaper material comprising a flat backing sheetand a corrugated sheetsecured to one side of the backing sheet and adapted to be rolled andunrolled, main wires secured against and extending longitudinally of thesheet and at right angles to and over the corrugations to provide keyspaces between the wires and valleys of the corrugations, auxiliarywires passed over the sheet and disposed in diagonal relation to thesheet and to the main wires and also at'diagonal angles to thecorrugations and continning across the sheet from one side to the other,the auxiliary diagonal wires forming additional key means relatively tothe valleys between the corrugations, both the main and auxiliary wiresbeing applied to one side only of the sheet7 and means for fastening themain wires and portions of the auxiliary wires to the sheet at thepoints of intersection of the main and auxiliary wires prior to theapplication of the latter to a wall or ceiling, all of the wires beingexposed on one side of the sheet over the corrugations, the said sheetbeing of imperforate structure.

4. A covering or key base for walls and ceilings, consisting of animperforate fleX- ible flat backing sheet and a oorrugated sheet ofpaper material secured against one side of the backing sheet, and keywires eX- tending both longitudinally and transversely in diagonalplanes over the outer transversely in diagonal planes at varying anglesto the corrugations of the said outer sheet, the wires extendingdiagonally of the outer sheet having looped terminals for interlockingassociation with similar wires of adjacent sheets, all the wires beingprimarily fixed to the backing and outer corrugated sheets andsimultaneously applicable with the latter.

6. A key basev for walls and ceilings, consecured an outer sheet. havingcorrugations extending over the surface thereof provided with anexterior coating of asphalt and sand, and`key wires secured to andbearing against the corrugations and disposed at various angles to thelatter.

7. A key base for walls and ce-ilings, consisting of a flat backingsheet/and a front sheet secured thereto and provided with corrugationshaving their apices'bent to provide undercuts,l the corrugationsextending over the surface of the outer sheet to form each corrugationWith an overhanging key portion, and intersecting Wire strands securedto the sheets and engaging the corrugations, the Wire strands beingdisposed at longitudinal and diagonal angles to the T corriigations andbridging the valleys be- 10 tween the said corrugations.

8. A key base for Walls and ceilings, consisting of a piece of papercomprising a fiat hacking Sheet and an outer Sheet secured thereto andhaving undercut corrugations w 15 extending transversely over thesurface thereof to form. each corrugation with an nesses.

' RAYMOND D. WEAKLEY.

Witnesses: i

GEORGE R. WALZ, A. R. RoADEs.

